BJP-TMC clash: Bengal MP Nusrat appeals for peace

KOLKATA: A day after violent clashes erupted between the Trinamool Congress and BJP workers in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas in which at least eight people from both parties were feared dead, Basirhat Lok Sabha MP Nusrat Jahan on Sunday appealed for peace.

According to the police, three political workers, including two from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one from the Trinamool Congress were killed in the clash in Sandeshkhali’s Hatgachi area under the Basirhat parliamentary constituency on Saturday.

The BJP, however, claimed that five of their workers were shot dead while the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress alleged that three of their men have been murdered.

“The matter is being taken care of… and things are under control… we all must appeal for peace now… it’s not a communal affair,” Jahan, the actress turned Trinamool Congress MP said.

“I stand by humanity and secularity, I am praying for the family of the people who lost their lives irrespective of which party they belong to. Humanity comes first,” she said. She also requested everybody’s cooperation.

“I request my friends from the media to cooperate with us. Basirhat is a sensitive zone but we will make sure the people there are safe and that they don’t suffer,” Jahan added.

Widespread violence involving the BJP and the TMC was witnessed during Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, with both parties trading blame over the issue.

The polls have come to a close, but the two parties are still at loggerheads.

In an election that was marred by violence, BJP made deep inroads into the Trinamool Congress territory by winning 18 seats in Lok Sabha and restricting the TMC to only 22 seats against 34 it had won in 2014 national polls.

With inputs from agency